A Kids' Writer Who Grew Up

By

Alexandra Alter

June 7, 2012 5:46 p.m. ET

Mark Haddonhates it when novelists treat children as props rather than fully realized characters.

"I'm quite disappointed by novels where children in families are just these peripheral figures," says Mr. Haddon, best known as the author of the best-selling novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time."

When he set out to write "The Red House," his new novel about an extended family...